District 18 LL: Strong pitching lifts LaBelle

Stellar pitching from Trace Burchard and Dylan Villa helped lead LaBelle to the District 18 Little League championship against Immokalee, 5-1, on Thursday night.

“Trace comes through for me in every game he pitches in,” said LaBelle manager Travis Burchard. “He hasn’t taken a loss all year.”

Trace Burchard almost threw a complete game for LaBelle before hitting his pitch count max on his 88th pitch. Through five innings, he struck out 10, allowed only four hits, one walk and eight base runners.

Villa would come in to finish the final inning, striking out one with no hits against the three batters he faced.

After a scoreless first inning, LaBelle got home runs from Dillion White and Adam Reinbott in the bottom of the second for a 3-0 lead.

Immokalee’s Kaden Grimaldo answered LaBelle in the next inning, nailing a double to close the gap, 3-1. Later that inning, LaBelle secured its win with two more runs to set the score to 5-1.

“Immokalee is a great opponent, it was a great game,” said Travis Burchard. “We try to play a sound baseball game — just base hits, put pressure on the other team and earn a run an inning. That was our goal and they came out and did that.”

“It was a good game. I’m just proud of my boys,” said Immokalee manager Jacob Martinez. “This is the first Immokalee majors team that’s made it this far. These boys played great. I’m thankful for all of them.”

LaBelle will continue onto San Carlos to compete in the Section 6 tournament on July 19-20.